Johnny Blaze
"I made a deal with the Devil a long time ago. I lived to regret it. When I finally escaped Hell, I brought the Devil with me. It just doesn't get any more wrong than that." Johnathan "Johnny" Blaze is a superhuman who is cursed with the power of the Ghost Rider, a supernaturally enhanced individual who has been granted unfathomable power in exchange for their soul. Johnny Blaze is perhaps Mephisto's greatest human enemy, and is one of the more famous Ghost Riders. History Early History Johnny Blaze, a stunt daredevil, was the son of Barton Blaze and Naomi Kale, born in Waukegan, Illinois. He spent his early years in the Quentin Carnival where his parents starred in a stunt show with Craig "Crash" Simpson. Johnny's mother walked out on Barton and Johnny and took the family's remaining two children, Barbara and Danny, with her. Losing his mother caused Johnny to repress many of his memories of her and his siblings. When his father died in a stunt, Johnny was adopted by Crash and Mona Simpson. The Simpsons helped Johnny by fabricating his past with the hope that it would be less painful than the truth. Now believing that his real mother was Clara Blaze, who had died, Johnny became an enthusiastic member of the Simpson clan, growing closer to their daughter, Roxanne. The two soon became inseparable and, as they grew older their fondness for one another moved beyond familiarity. Stunt Performer Unaware of the mystical forces swirling around him, John followed the Simpsons into their own traveling stunt show - the Crash Simpson Stunt Cycle Extravaganza. Crash had become a true father figure to Johnny by this time, teaching him how to ride in the hopes that the younger man might eventually succeed him as the star of the show. This dream came to a fiery end when Johnny was fifteen. While practicing a dangerous stunt, Johnny was nearly killed and Mona Simpson was mortally wounded. When Mona asked John on her deathbed to quit riding, he swore to her that he would. Over the next five years, Johnny's relationship with Crash deteriorated as John refused to take part in the show. Not understanding John's motivations, Crash grew increasingly frustrated, even accusing his adopted son of cowardice; however, John continued to practice at night, honing his skills until he surpassed his mentor. He had another secret, too: he and Roxanne had become lovers. Fate When Crash revealed he was dying of cancer, he asked Johnny once more to take over the show, but Johnny refused despite Roxanne's disappointment. Distraught, John turned to the occult in search of answers. His studies ultimately led to a spell that supposedly could summon Satan himself. John didn't realize it, but the entity he summoned was actually Mephisto. Desperate to save Crash, Blaze sold his soul to Mephisto in return for Crash's cancer to be cured. Crash Simpson's cancer was cured and Johnny believed he would live; however, Crash soon died after a stunt trying to jump over 22 cars. Mephisto, when confronted by Blaze over Crash's death, declared that he had kept his end of the bargain. Johnny's exact words in the bargain had been for Crash to be spared the cancer which was killing him, not for him to live, though this had been Johnny's intent. True to his word, Mephisto had ensured that Crash had not died of cancer, but instead had lost his life during the failed jump, which Mephisto quickly pointed out when he came to claim his prize. Blaze, still at the mercy of Mephisto, believed he would lose his soul until he was saved by Roxanne. Roxanne proclaimed her love for Blaze, and drove Mephisto away with the purity of her emotion. Becoming the Ghost Rider Blaze was unaware that Mephisto had bonded him with the demon Zarathos as an act of revenge for not being able to obtain Johnny's soul for himself. The night after Crash's death, Johnny found himself transformed into a skeletal being with a flaming skull. Fearing at first that this demonic form was a manifestation of his own evil side, he soon realized that he had bonded with some wholly separate entity. This merger of Johnny Blaze and a demonic force became known as the Ghost Rider, which amused Mephisto greatly. Transforming nightly into the Ghost Rider, while Johnny still had his soul, he was forced to punish the wicked and evil upon Mephisto's demands whenever needed. Whenever he was in the presence of evil he would transform into the Ghost Rider, to exact the devil's revenge, returning the evil to Hell. Facing the Father John soon became involved with a local motorcycle gang, Satan's Servants. Their leader, Curly Samuels, had gained the Ghost Rider's trust, until a shocked John discovered that the soul of Crash Simpson lurked within Curly's form. Mephisto had offered Crash a new life in exchange for betraying his adopted son, and Crash had eagerly accepted. The Ghost Rider's spirit was cast into Hell, where he managed to reawaken Crash's sense of honor and love. The older man sacrificed himself to help Johnny escape, making Ghost Rider promise to protect Roxanne. John and Roxanne then journeyed into the American Southwest, where Ghost Rider battled a Satanist, Linda Littletrees, and Daimon Helstrom, who claimed to be the Son of Satan. This began a long period of roaming the West, as John sought to avoid Mephisto and protect Roxanne. Not the only Rider While in San Francisco, Roxanne was tricked into renouncing her love for John, and Mephisto nearly claimed John's soul in full; however, a long-haired stranger saved the day, driving Mephisto away at the last minute. This bearded mystery man identified himself only as "Caretaker," and Blaze came to view him as a heavenly figure, offering hope and salvation. Johnny Blaze learned through the Caretaker that he was not in fact the only Ghost Rider; Mephisto had been tricking mortals into signing contracts with him and making them his demonic agents for centuries, making Johnny simply the latest iteration in a line of Riders. The Caretaker described the Rider's powers, and offered advice on how to start learning to control the Rider during his transformation to use its power for good. However, though Johnny learned much and thanked the Caretaker for his trouble, the realization of the demonic power within him frightened him and caused him to worry for the safety of those close to him. Fearing his growing lack of control over the Ghost Rider, John left Roxanne and spent years wandering on his own. Personality "Hope. It's the Devil's favorite poison. He dangles it in front of me... gets me to run for it... only to snatch it away at the very last moment. And I fall for it every... damn... time." Johnny Blaze was once a thrillseeker, eagerly participating in his family's stunt carnival and growing to love the risk of the activities performed for the sake of entertainment. Though young and reckless, he cared deeply for those close to him, most especially for Roxanne. However, Blaze's life would continually take turns for the worst, eventually culminating into making him a very broken man by the time he reached adulthood. The loss of his original family, including his birth mother taking his siblings away from him, would have an enormous impact on his heart despite the memory being repressed. He experienced further loss when he was just a young teenager, losing his adoptive mother Mona Simpson when one of his stunt crashes resulted in her fatal injuries. Despite the enormous love he felt for his adoptive father, Johnny would come to odds with him after swearing to never perform for the carnival again due to the loss of Mona. Crash would become disappointed with Johnny, accusing him of cowardice; however, Johnny later decided to practice on his own, breaking the promise of his mother in an attempt to impress his father and return to his life of thrill-seeking. Perhaps Johnny's greatest sense of loss came when his father developed cancer. Feeling conflict and despair when pressured by Crash and Roxanne to continue the show after the passing, Johnny desperately sought out mystical help to return his father to full health. Almost immediately after supposedly having some form of hope again when Crash was cured, he witnessed his horrific death, losing another close family member. It was only thanks to Roxanne's love for Johnny that his soul wasn't then claimed by Mephisto. After he became the Ghost Rider, Johnny was confronted by Crash again, who had eagerly accepted Mephisto's offer to betray Johnny in exchange for another life. This brought him down more, though was rebounded when Crash repented for his decision and helped Johnny return to Earth to protect Roxanne. After Roxanne seemingly abandoned Johnny, and learning much of the origin and nature of his Ghost Rider powers, Johnny became depressed and believed himself a danger to someone he loved, someone who perhaps did not love him back even if he was able to protect her from himself. This made him a lonely man, wandering the Earth in seclusion and occasionally facing criminals, evil worshippers, and demons with his powers. Losing his humanity "Every night the foulest creatures imaginable '''hound me' from one end of the inferno to the other! I ride through fire and blades and swamps of rotting flesh, I immerse myself in caverns filled with blood like veins-but I can't shake them off! And every night they tear me to shreds!"'' Over time, Johnny Blaze has slowly lost touch of himself, making him more and more vulnerable to takeover by the demon Zarathos within him. If he doesn't do something to alter his course, eventually Zarathos could fully possess his body and destroy it when releasing its full power in the physical world, sending his soul straight to hell where he will be finally claimed by Mephisto for eternity. Appearance Human Johnny Blaze is a caucasian american man with reddish blonde hair and blue eyes. He stands 5'10" tall and weighs 180 lbs. Johnny typically wears black clothing, consisting of a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, and black boots, sometimes with a set of fingerless or full gloves. Ghost Rider When transformed into the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze becomes a skeleton covered in orange Hellfire; his clothing remains unchanged during the transformation, and covers up any of his flaming skeleton with the exception of whatever it didn't cover up in human form, such as the head and hands; however, he is sometimes seen with flames around his boots when powered up, which spreads and applies itself to his entire body in moments of highly agitated power levels. His height increases to 6'2", and his weight is increased to 220 lbs in Ghost Rider form. Powers/Abilities In human form, Johnny has no possession of any super-human powers or supernatural capabilities. But as the Ghost Rider, he's the supernatural combination between human host and experienced motorcyclist Johnny Blaze and Zarathos. As the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze possesses a variety of supernatural powers at his disposal, the standard for all Ghost Riders; though at his level, Johnny Blaze has stronger powers capable of defeating many creatures some Riders aren't able to, even other Riders themselves. Ghost Rider Transformation Johnny Blaze possesses the supernatural ability to transform into the Ghost Rider at will. Originally, he would automatically transform at night or in the presence of evil. Recently, however, he has gained control over his transformations and can transform through an act of will or when innocent blood is spilled. It has recently been stated that Johnny Blaze and the Spirit that was supposedly the Ghost Rider are in fact agents of Heaven. The power of the Ghost Rider depends on who is in control of the Ghost Rider (effectively Johnny's body). Johnny and the Spirit inhabit the same body, and while transformed Johnny is in control for the majority of the time, but if he losses focus or control of the power of the Ghost Rider, the Spirit regaining control is likely to occur. While the Ghost Rider is in control, Johnny Blaze only influences its decisions to an extent as he takes the "back seat" to the Spirit. Johnny Blaze is simply a mortal and acts as a built in safety, that severely limits the power of the Ghost Rider. When Zarathos takes possession of the Ghost Rider, the Ghost Rider's powers are, for most intents and purposes, boundless and "God Like." Johnny Blaze is one of the strongest and most powerful beings on the planet, while the Ghost Rider, is for all intents and purposes described as boundless in power. Physical Traits As the Ghost Rider, Johnny is capable of the following: *Superhuman Strength, sufficient to lift up to 25 tons under normal circumstances, never the less if desired he could, given the divine nature of his powers increase them to incalculable levels. *Superhuman Stamina, preventing his muscles from producing fatigue toxins during physical activities, granting him limitless superhuman stamina. *Superhuman Durability, to the point of being basically immune to all types of earthly physical damage, as he has had his entire skull destroyed and regenerated instantly without any discomfort. The Ghost Rider is capable of withstanding great impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes, powerful energy blasts, and falls from great heights without sustaining injury. As his bodily tissues have been transformed, leaving only a skeleton, most projectiles such as bullets simply pass through him or bounce off his bones. Ghost Rider's body is for all intents immune to physical injury, as he is evidently not able to feel pain and is able to survive with no apparent discomfort no matter how severe the injury (unless a divine weapon is used against him). *Superhuman Agility, granting him enhance reflexes, coordination, dexterity and accuracy. This provides heightened movements allowing him to dodge superfast projectiles or objects. *Regenerative Healing Factor',' for if his being is damaged, the magical energies imbuing him allows the Ghost Rider or Johnny Blaze to instantly regenerate any and all damage done, even to the point of fully regenerating lost limbs in moments, and regenerating his skull after it was destroyed in seconds without any discomfort or any evident pain. *Size Alteration, to be able to directly fight against super giants or tiny creatures. Spiritual Powers *Empathic Reading, enabling him to feel the transgression of an individual he encounters by looking into their heart and soul. He can also decide whether or not a person is innocent or evil and in need of punishment. He is also capable of doing this ability without the process of transformation. *Identity Detection, able to determine the identity of the individual by simply looking into their soul. However, if certain beings do not possess a soul such as a symbiote or demons, he can still identify them. *Supernatural Awareness, possessesing an extrasensory ability that allows him to detect any supernatural occurrences around him. *Sin Manipulation, through which he can purify any soul, whether righteous or degenerate, from sin. However, this effect may cause the victim to be emotionless. He will only backfire the wrongs of the victim causing either an emotional break down or repentance. *Soul Manipulation, enabling him to see into their souls to determine their nature and characteristics, as well as their innocence or guilt, and is capable of extracting and manipulating the soul from the creature. *Soul Consumption, only used if he determines the Soul is degenerate and lifeless. Hellfire As Ghost Rider, Blaze possesses the ability to generate, control, and project mystical fire, or "hellfire" at will. Hellfire is an emphyreal and supernatural flame that burns the soul of a person and can be used to burn their physical body. *Casting blasts of Hellfire from his hands in any shape and form. *Projecting streams of Hellfire from the empty sockets of the eyes in his skull. *Breathing Hellfire from his maw. *Generating Hellfire from his entire body or out of thin air, such as explosions or walls of Hellfire that appear some distance from him. *Channeling Hellfire through objects he is in contact with, such as a firearm, melee weapon, and Motorcycle. *Creating a new Motorcyle purely out of Hellfire in the absence of his physical one. *Using Animation in objects imbued with his Hellfire, essentially bringing them to life to do his bidding. *Using Hellfire to rip open portals able to traverse different dimensions. Though it may have some complications due to Johnny Blaze unfocused behavior, he can open vortexes to escape other realms. *His knowledge of hellish energies and essence provides him supernatural awareness when he encounters otherworldly figures. Pennance Stare As Ghost Rider, Johnny possesses the supernatural ability to cause any individual who stares into his eyes to see and feel every bit of pain they have ever inflicted on anyone in their entire lifetime. He can control the degree to which the Stare punishes its targets, either helping to purge them from telepathy or mental influence, or completely burning away their entire soul and lifeforce from the brink of existence. Johnny's power with the Pennance Stare is far greater than that of most other Riders, enabling him to perform a sort of "permanency" effect with the Stare that forces the target to suffer the horrendus effects of reliving all the pain they ever have put on someone else in their whole life, for all eternity. Though the Pennance Stare has some limitations on what it can be used on, Johnny Blaze's practice and power in it enables him to overcome some of the limitations; he is able to clear through the mind of those that may be intoxicated or high on drugs, affect those that are mentally unstable or insane, and is able to concentrate on the target even if they have multiple sets of eyes. However, the Pennace Stare still doesn't work on Symbiote-paired beings, soulless creatures, or if the target wholeheartedly believes their sins are fully justified. Equipment Motorcycle The common theme of the Ghost Rider is a human host who transforms into a flaming-skull-headed vehicle/animal rider with supernatural powers, prominently featured alongside their mode of transportation. Johnny Blaze's motorcycle undergoes a minor alteration when he transforms into the Ghost Rider, with his Bike changing shape slightly to appear sleeker and more fearsome. Other than that, it simply adopts the Hellfire covering that all Ghost Rider vehicles have, most notably ringed around the wheels of the bike; wherever the Bike goes, it leaves a trail of flame behind it. The Motorcycle is supernaturally empowered when used by the Ghost Rider, enabling it to have the following abilities: *Virtually indestructable by conventional means. *Is capable of being summoned from anywhere by mental command, and can move by itself. *Sports the traditional flaming wheels of the Ghost Rider motorcycles. *A Shield-like battering ram on the front for smashing through obstacles and bashing objects or enemies away with brute force. *Able to reach speeds far faster than any conventional land vehicle. *Supernatural enhancement enables no need for mechanical maintenance or refueling. *Capable of pulling off impossible feats such as riding straight up vertical surfaces, across bodies of water, or even sailing through the air. Shotgun Johnny Blaze carries with him a sawed-off Winchester 1887 lever action shotgun. A powerful weapon itself against conventional enemies, it is only somewhat useful against supernatural threats. However, when empowered by the Ghost Rider's Hellfire, the shotgun transforms and is becomes a serious threat even to powerful demons. Unlike conventional sidearms, it fires bursts of Hellfire that never runs out of ammunition and can be fired repeatedly for an indeterminate amount of time. It has enough power to kill most low and mid-level creatures, and grievously wounding more powerful demonic creatures, with a single shot. Trivia *Johnny Blaze's birthday for this universe is listed as February 16, 2007, the same date that the Ghost Rider film was released. *Though the spiked jacket and chain is unique to Danny Ketch, Johnny Blaze will eventually adapt these to his character as depicted in later comic books. Category:Male Category:Human Category:Hero Category:Characters